Mycroft did her bad, didn't he?

"I'm leaving for the Buckingham Palace, you're off for an hour, I'll be back in time for lunch, if I'm not, go on with your lunch, no need to wait," Mycroft said this and left. He had asked Anthea for a little help earlier, he required the pictures of Irene Adler's website. This was the first time Anthea heard of her, Mycroft had kept her out of this woman's file for a long time. "Wonder why he wants to involve me now after all this time?" she wondered. She left for her room, "must be an ex-agent" she thought and searched for the website. When the website loaded, Anthea was aghast, she looked away immediately. "CHRIST, Mycroft, how could you do this to me?" she cursed him. Not often does she come across such strong-headed women that Mycroft would be interested in. She exited the page, switched to the safe search that her brother taught her about. Steeling her nerves, she went about her task. "So much for being painfully single" she sighed. She hoped to pass the day without more eye contact, she was overwhelmed.

As Mycroft left, Anthea went over to her team to check on their progress and called her brother to find if he was free for lunch. He was, so they decided to meet up for lunch at a nice restaurant. She was grateful for the company, they hadn't had much family time, Mycroft did her good this time. R ordered for them both, he was very excited to show off his inventions that he was working on, he talked about the missions he took part in, he was sparkling with excitement. Anthea sat there, watching her brother go on with so much enthusiasm, she was very proud of him. After a quick lunch, she gave him a big hug. R asked her "You're free right, why don't we go to a pub? Now? No drinks, but shall we?" She saw no reason to object, Mycroft didn't need her around, so she accepted. Anthea wanted to show this particular pub to her brother for a long time, so she led them there. The pub was crowded. "John would very much like this pub" Anthea chuckled under her breath. The perfect place for Sherlock to get drunk and pick a fight, the perfect opportunity for John to hit Sherlock if he was going to get himself in shit.

R pointed to an unoccupied corner, very cosy and out of view. Lovely. They pushed through the crowd to get to the place. Maybe it was her bad luck, someone decided to shout in her ears as she was making her way to the corner. Instinctively, she covered her ears and dropped to the ground, by doing so, she let R out of her sight. "Are you alright honey?" she heard a voice coo in her ears. "Thank you, I-" she replied and turned to look at the person who said it. Never in a million years did she expect to see Irene Adler there.

Irene gently led her to the same corner she was headed to. "Oh lovely, your brother is here as well" she commented. Anthea didn't say a word. R was surprised, "Oh my... Lily, is this..?" he asked. Irene piped in "Oh we could have been, only if your sister would stop being so stubborn" R was confused. "Anthea, did you bring her here to introduce me to your-?" he was cut off by Anthea. "No, R. This is Miss Irene Adler, she has some questions for me, I believe, so would you give us some time?" she asked her brother. "O-oh certainly, but I just remembered that we need to stock our cat food, so I'll take my leave. See you" he said and left. Marvellous, Anthea thought. This was certainly not how Anthea hoped her day would go.

She turned away from Irene, looking at the party. The neon lights, noisy atmosphere, alcohol, invasion of her personal space, all of that irritated her. Irene spoke up "How is life treating you, dear?" Anthea ignored her. It was already awkward that she had submitted the pictures to Mycroft earlier, now she has to engage with The Woman? "You know, it's a pity I didn't find you earlier, you're wasted, staying in the shadows," she said. Anthea sighed, "Your point, Miss. Adler?" Irene didn't say anything, she placed her hand on Anthea's thighs. Anthea clenched her hands to prevent flinching.

"I'm offended, I hope Mycroft's high and mighty character did not rub on you" The woman spoke. Irene was certainly enjoying herself, oh what Anthea wouldn't give to end this conversation. "Look me in the eye, dear, and tell me, what should I give to get you away from Mycroft Holmes?" Irene moved her hands gently to her chin to turn it towards her face and outlined her jaw. Anthea's eyes followed Irene's fingers for a moment, quickly, she tore her gaze and looked at The Woman. Irene spoke in her deepest voice yet "The expression you are hiding so well is rather marvellous, my bad, you won't let me see it." Anthea's lips curved a little, it earned a laugh from Irene. "Five minutes, I can spare you that, I need to get back to my team" Anthea said.

Irene jumped at it "Oh, I have control of this time? Let's go out then". They stood up, Anthea immediately put some distance between them. She went ahead, Irene followed behind her. They moved in synchronicity, their heels striking the floor at the same time, but Irene fell out of rhythm, alerting the ever-observant Anthea. Just as she was about to cross the door, the guards at the door came at her and Irene. A trained MI-6 agent, she ducked and tripped him, grabbing his gun and knocking him out cold. She turned to see Irene, she had the other one at gunpoint. Anthea moved on, she didn't see Irene stabbing him with a sedative. Coming out, Irene saw her waiting for her, she gave a grateful smile. Anthea turned away from her, towards her office. Irene mumbled, "Mycroft did her real bad, didn't he?" With that, she set off in the opposite direction and got into a car. "Kate, get ready," she said, settling herself behind a red-haired woman.